Creating a planting container from an old stump

Posted on
Jan 1, 2017

In my quest to build a homestead on a budget I’m always looking to
re-purpose stuff. Several months ago on our way home from dinner we saw
the remains of a tree our neighbors had cut down. The tree was hollowed
out at the base and I thought it would make an awesome flower pot. So we
tossed the stump into our trunk and took it home.

The next day after inspecting it I noticed that the insides were filled
with some nasty gik. So I filled it with wood and dry leaves and set it
on fire. The inside of the stump burned for a couple of hours which
hopefully killed whatever disease was resident. The stump was then
rolled into the orchard and filled with soil. Here’s what it looks like
now:

We added a few ice
plants
to the front and attempted to grow butterfly
weed in the back. The butterfly weed never took
but the ice plants thrived in the pot. This spring we will keep an eye
out for some drought tolerant perennials on the discount rack to finish
it off.